SAVOR EVERY MOMENT
While gaining more attention and recognition, Zhan Xuan hasn’t slowed down. Creating his album, working out, learning English… a new round of busyness is fueling him with fresh energy. Zhan Xuan believes that everyone carries many little universes within themselves. Every path walked, every scene witnessed, every rise and fall experienced will turn into stardust, gradually filling them.
He cherishes every gain along his journey of growth, whether it’s applause or doubt, all of it becomes energy and courage for his inner universe, allowing him to keep moving forward on the path of exploration.
PART 1 – Discover every aspect of life
“Romantic, free, and relaxed.” This is Zhan Xuan’s first impression of Paris. Not long ago, he traveled to Paris Fashion Week with OK! Despite his busy schedule, he still made time to open his senses and take in the subtle atmosphere of the city. Under the early spring sunlight, the sky was a clear blue, and light passed through the old buildings, casting geometric shadows across the streets.
Standing on the streets of Paris, Zhan Xuan just wanted to slow down, slower, and even slower, to enjoy a cup of coffee and observe every corner of the city. In between shoots, he picked up two band posters at a newsstand by the Seine, before turning back to his packed schedule of fittings.
Before heading back, Zhan Xuan made a point to set aside time to visit the Louvre. He specifically hired a guide, allowing himself to fully immerse in the stories behind the artworks.
When talking about this brief visit, he didn’t mention the well-known Venus de Milo or the Mona Lisa. Instead, he recalled with lingering fascination, “Now I know who first painted light, why portraits in the past all had similar faces, and where the artist hid himself in this painting…”
These seemingly minor details, outside the main narrative, are exactly what spark Zhan Xuan’s curiosity.
For him, when everyone looks at things from the same perspective, what they see is often one-dimensional and superficial. He’s more interested in understanding the stories behind them and uncovering the details hidden beneath the surface. Only in this way can he truly feel life itself, understand it and experience it.
“If I have the time, I wouldn’t choose crowded tourist attractions. I’d rather go to places where locals live, immerse myself in their daily life, and understand the city.”
As for Paris, Zhan Xuan wants to know why people there seem so relaxed, and why the city always carries a sense of romance. What he really seeks is to experience it, and become part of it, rather than just rushing through and checking off sights.
Zhan Xuan has an innate curiosity and sensitivity toward his surroundings. He’s good at noticing those seemingly insignificant moments around him, breaking them down, and preserving them in the album of his mind.
He recalls the time when he once worked in a kitchen. Back then, his busy hours were relatively fixed, aside from the morning preparations and the two meal rushes, the afternoons offered a chance to slow down.
At those moments, he could pause and quietly become an observer. What might seem like trivial details to others become, in Zhan Xuan’s eyes, a vivid panorama of everyday life.
He would pay close attention to the people around him during their breaks, watching what the head chef does after a busy rush, or how the neighboring shop owners spend their downtime. Zhan Xuan says these moments of life can’t be learned from textbooks, nor from a film set. Each one has to be experienced firsthand, by truly immersing yourself in life, to gain real understanding.
And these fragments have become nourishment for him on his journey as an actor, helping him better understand his roles, and the world itself.
PART 2 – The passion has always been there
Zhan Xuan can still clearly recall his childhood curiosity and love for acting. Back then, he would imitate the skits he saw on TV, copying the characters to make everyone laugh. His purpose was simple, when he imitated well and received praise, he felt completely satisfied.
At that time, his idea of being an “actor” was probably just a ticket to appear on Happy Star, to become part of that world.
It wasn’t until he grew up, left home, and had the chance to truly step into acting that Zhan Xuan began to understand the deeper meaning behind the word “actor.”
“Only after entering the industry did I really understand what it means to be an actor. On set, I would talk with senior actors, and they would share their experiences with me. I also watched interviews and works of actors I admire. Little by little, I absorbed these influences and gradually built my own understanding of what it means to be an actor.”
For Zhan Xuan, becoming an “actor” doesn’t just mean having the chance to experience different lives or turning what’s impossible in reality into something possible. It also carries a responsibility, the responsibility to tell stories well and to influence others.
Speaking about a suspense drama he’s been watching recently, he said, “In real life, I could never become a sharp, brilliant detective, but in a drama, I can make that a reality.”
As an actor, becoming someone else within a role is a unique experience every time. He cherishes every opportunity to take on a character, and values even more the abilities and sense of achievement that come from those experiences.
Zhan Xuan says that becoming a detective requires long-term accumulation of sharp observation and training, something he couldn’t achieve in a short time. But as an actor, he gains an extra chance to experience it, to get as close as possible, and to portray it well.
In the past year, Zhan Xuan reached a new peak in his career. From waiting and persevering to finally being seen, he has gone through ten years of ups and downs.
When he talks again about those difficult days, working odd jobs, waiting for opportunities, having no roles to act, those memories of uncertainty are still vivid. He’s grateful that he never stopped moving forward.
“I told myself that when you feel lost, it’s better to focus on enriching yourself, observe life and refine yourself. I don’t think confusion is a reason to stop, but an opportunity to grow. Once you get through it, you’ll realize that those seemingly insignificant days can turn into the courage and confidence to keep moving forward.”
Indeed, all waiting is never truly still, it’s a quiet accumulation of strength. And by the time the light finally shines through, Zhan Xuan is already standing there, ready to step into it.
PART 3 – Be true to yourself
On a morning before the New Year, Zhan Xuan once again set out on his bike, using his vlog camera to take everyone along to witness a sunrise. The streets of Beijing at dawn were cold and quiet, and in that moment, he let his thoughts wander freely.
In the video, he rides forward, holding the handlebars, capturing the passing wind, the people brushing by, the traffic lights at intersections, and his thoughts and feelings in that moment… It feels like a casual conversation with close friends, everything comes from the most genuine emotions and expressions of that instant.
Zhan Xuan says that people around him often describe him as someone whose thoughts jump quickly, starting from one topic and drifting into unexpected directions. “It’s just a lot of fragmented thoughts, I say whatever comes to mind.”
Although he encountered a setback that day with a sudden flat tire, and the overcast sky meant he didn’t get the golden sunrise he had imagined, Zhan Xuan took it in stride. “After all, the process itself is more memorable than the sunrise.”
In every unpredictable moment, he chooses to accept it and feel it, and this, too, is a form of ongoing cultivation in life as an actor.
For Zhan Xuan, whether it’s portraying a character as an actor or stepping onto the stage as a singer, both are ways of expressing his inner world outward.
“Acting allows me to get into someone else’s life, to experience their story, to live once for the character or become that person. Releasing my music and performing on stage, on the other hand, is about laying my most authentic self out for everyone to see. One is about experiencing, the other is about expressing. You may see different sides of me, but they’re all me.”
Recently, Zhan Xuan has been preparing his new album. He admits that he’s still in the exploration stage, with so many ideas he wants to express that need time to settle and be refined.
He doesn’t mind repeatedly adjusting things through practice. He hopes that each expression of his can become more focused and more powerful. He has even set a shortcut on his phone for recording, and keeps notes of ideas in his memo app.
Although the process involves constant choices and trade-offs, he knows clearly that only with enough accumulation can he support a stronger, more solid expression.
“If one day you’re no longer standing under the spotlight, what would you do?”
“If one day I were to change, I might become a traveler, wandering the world.”
Zhan Xuan also shared a documentary he recently watched, about humanity’s deepest attempt to drill into the Earth’s core. The Kola Superdeep Borehole began in 1970 on the Kola Peninsula as a scientific geological exploration project. The work lasted for more than 20 years, drilling over 12,000 meters straight down. That number may sound astonishing, but it is only one five-hundredth of the Earth’s radius.
If the Earth were compared to an apple, the Kola borehole wouldn’t even have fully pierced the skin. Zhan Xuan said he has recently been watching many documentaries about nature, the ocean, and the universe, as well as interviews with astronauts who achieved the first untethered spacewalk. It made him think about how, every time he looks down from an airplane, all the cities and buildings appear so small.
He reflects that, in the vast universe, humanity is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. When the frame of reference shifts from the immediate surroundings to the boundless cosmos, the worries and trivial matters of everyday life are naturally diluted and dissolved.
Returning to himself, this broader perspective has made Zhan Xuan even clearer about how he should move forward. “Be braver in being myself,” he says firmly. Whether it’s experiencing different lives through his roles or exploring different corners of the world, Zhan Xuan is always on the road.
Q & A
OK!: What have you been busy with recently?
Zhan Xuan: Recently, I’ve been recording new songs and working out. At this stage, I want to learn more things, improve my physique, and also practice my English, developing more language skills.
OK!: Over the past year, you’ve had quite a few works released and even put out a single, gaining more visibility. What has this process been like for you? Have there been any changes in your mindset?
Zhan Xuan: For me, it’s definitely something that makes me very happy. In terms of mindset, once you start being “seen,” everything tends to be amplified. You need to stay more grounded when facing it all. There may be doubts, criticism, and many challenges ahead that you still have to overcome. So for me, it’s more about learning how to adjust myself throughout the process and keeping my mindset steady. Most importantly, it’s about staying true to my original intention, what I wanted to do at the beginning is still what I want to do now.
OK!: You loved imitating and performing since childhood, and later you became an actor. Do you feel there’s any difference compared to how you understood acting back then?
Zhan Xuan: For me personally, there isn’t a big difference. What’s different is that now I have a stronger sense of responsibility. When I was young, it was more about having fun, I liked imitating and performing because it could make people laugh. My goal was very simple: when people noticed me or praised how well I imitated, I felt happy.
Now, as an actor, I need to get closer to each character, experience their life, and portray them well. At this stage, what I want more is to complete the character, to make them whole.
OK!: You’ve also gone through times of financial hardship, doing odd jobs, and dealing with instability. How has that period of your life influenced you?
Zhan Xuan: I think it has had a very positive impact on me. I’m able to endure hardship much better now. Those experiences are incredibly valuable, whether it was working odd jobs, instability, or difficult financial times, they’ve all become part of the foundation of who I am.
They made me understand early on that none of the success people see comes out of nowhere, you have to go through it step by step. For me now, the biggest help is that it has taught me to stay grounded, not complain, and to do every small thing well, one step at a time. It has also made me cherish every opportunity I get and everything I have now.
OK!: Looking back now, among the different jobs you’ve done, which one do you find the most interesting or rewarding?
Zhan Xuan: I think what’s most interesting isn’t the job itself, but the different environments I’ve been in and the people I’ve met. Because life is like a play, everyone has their own way of living. Even people of the same kind, in the same environment, can have completely different lives. So for me, the people I meet in those down-to-earth, everyday work environments are the most rewarding.
OK!: You seem to really enjoy observing?
Zhan Xuan: Yes, because whether it’s watching a show or listening to stories, isn’t it all about seeing other people’s lives? I’ve just shifted that “lens” from the TV screen to real life around me, using my own eyes to observe, and it’s truly fascinating.
OK!: Recently we saw you post a vlog where you set off before dawn again to watch the sunrise. That takes quite a bit of determination, was it a spontaneous decision or something you planned?
Zhan Xuan: It wasn’t really spontaneous. I checked the weather and my schedule for those days in advance. Right now, I want to do things that feel more meaningful and help me connect more with everyone. Last time, I took everyone to see the sunrise from the mountaintop. This time, I wanted to show something different. Even though I got a flat tire on the way, it turned out to be a special experience.
I really recommend that, if you have the chance, you go experience the sunrise at the Forbidden City. You’ll feel a kind of connection across time, as if you and people from hundreds of years ago are sharing the same moment. They may have seen the same sunrise, and as the light slowly rises, they too would begin their day. It makes you want to understand our history and culture even more.
OK!: Last year, you performed at many music festivals, and in January this year you even held your first solo concert. Were these attempts something you had planned, or did they come about by chance?
Zhan Xuan: They were a pleasant surprise within my plans. I might have imagined it before, but I never truly thought it would happen. The idea was always there in my heart, but when I actually stood at the center of the stage, being seen and heard by everyone, and hearing their cheers, it still felt incredibly surreal.
Of course, it didn’t happen out of nowhere. It was probably always part of my life’s path, just gradually growing into reality at this moment. For me, it’s a wonderful surprise, and I’m really happy.
OK!: You also went to Paris Fashion Week recently. What kind of impression did the city leave on you?
Zhan Xuan: My overall impression of Paris is that it’s gentle, yet very powerful. After attending Fashion Week, I felt that this place has both artistic freedom and a kind of refined beauty that draws you in. The atmosphere on the streets makes me want to slow down and really take it in, the beauty of the architecture, the design, and everyday life. It all makes me want to experience it at a slower pace. So even after coming back, I often feel like finding a little street-side café, slowing down, and having a cup of coffee… though I haven’t quite managed to do that yet.
OK!: Whenever you go somewhere, is local life one of the things that attracts you the most?
Zhan Xuan: Of course it attracts me. Even in the past, when I did different jobs, those were all ways of experiencing life. Only by truly immersing myself can I touch the most authentic side of a place. Otherwise, as a tourist, I can only see what others want me to see.
OK!: As an actor and artist, you have more opportunities to engage with and interpret fashion. What does fashion mean to you?
Zhan Xuan: To me, fashion isn’t about following trends or wearing exaggerated styles. It’s about finding what suits you, something that makes you feel comfortable and at ease, reflects your attitude, and expresses your inner temperament through your outward appearance.
Because what suits you matters more than anything else. On that foundation, outward expression can also convey culture, ideas, and heritage. For example, incorporating elements of intangible cultural heritage into design allows more people to appreciate traditional craftsmanship and helps preserve it. I think that’s very meaningful.
OK!: Use one word each to describe yourself at work and in life.
Zhan Xuan: At work, “focused.” In life, “free.”
OK!: In your vlog, you mentioned a thought, that “inside our bodies are many little universes, and all our experiences, knowledge, what we see and think, gradually fill those inner universes.” If being “filled” is 100, how full do you think you are now?
Zhan Xuan: Probably around 60. There’s still a lot of blank space, a lot of unknowns, many things I want to experience, and many things I still need to learn. There are so many things I want to do but haven’t done yet, things I want to learn but haven’t started. That’s also why I want to do things that create more meaningful connections with everyone. Because it’s not full yet, I still have the motivation and courage to keep moving forward, and to stay curious about the world.
OK!: Do you think this state can ever be completely filled?
Zhan Xuan: Do you think the universe can ever be fully explored?